


Follow the Leader

by JayEmEl



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Team, Team Bonding, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24594421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayEmEl/pseuds/JayEmEl
Summary: Yang loves her little sister very much and tries to encourage Ruby to spread her wings. It's difficult not to be overly involved when certain other teammates aren't cooperating, though.(This was supposed to be the beginning of a RWBY re-write, but for now it's a one-shot for a contest in the Honey Bees Discord server.)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Follow the Leader

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the summary, this is, for now, a one-shot for the contest happening in the Honey Bees Discord server. It was supposed to be the beginning of a RWBY re-write I started a long time ago, but since I haven't gotten around to it in such a while, it'll at least serve here and be out for the fandom. Enjoy!

The weapons’ locker room was filled with jubilating chatter from several dozens of first-year students, their voices bouncing off the walls and making it difficult to separate one conversation from another. There was the faint smell of metal and sweat in the air, a stuffiness that undoubtedly originated with all these teenagers having recently exerted themselves. 

  
The energy was palpable, though, and it was contagious. This was the true beginning of their training, and they were ready to start settling into their new routines and dorms. 

  
Yang reveled in it. It felt like her first year at Beacon Acadamy was kicking off on a high note – with the help of her younger sister and two other girls, she had already defeated several creatures of Grimm, and now she had a team and a solid point of reference from where to let the adventure commence.

  
She wasn’t the only who was excited, too. Ruby – her little sister – suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gripped Yang’s arm tight and practically hopped up and down like the ball of too-much caffeine (minus the caffeine) that she was. “I still can’t believe it!” the young girl in red exclaimed. “We’re on the same team! I was super worried for nothing!”

  
Yang grinned. It was true that she had encouraged Ruby to try and make friends, widen her circle of connections, and this had caused Ruby some amount of anxiety, but Yang couldn’t deny that she was also relieved that the little munchkin would never be too far away from her for the next four years. It would be good to keep being able to watch over her. “Team RWBY. You were even chosen to be our leader!” 

  
“Right?! It’s crazy!”

  
Yang ruffled Ruby’s hair. “I’m proud of you, Rubes. You rocked out there! It’s totally deserved. Is your weapon all put away? Do you have your suitcase?”

  
Red-tipped hair bobbed as the young scythe-wielder nodded. “Yup! Crescent Rose is safe. And I have my suitcase right here. What about you? You’re still wearing Ember Celica?”

  
Yang raised her hand that wasn’t carrying her own suitcase a bit, glancing at where a heavy golden bracelet adorned her black armband-covered wrist. Students were beginning to filter out of the weapons’ locker room, probably heading to their newly assigned dorms to unpack. It was less noisy now. “Yeah, the manual says I can keep my weapons on me as long as they’re, and I quote, ‘discreet and not cumbersome.’”

  
Ruby actually started dragging Yang along then, moving them into the hallway. She snickered. “You read the manual? Wow.”

  
Yang laughed and followed Ruby’s enthusiastic pace. “I never said that.”

  
Beacon Academy was a prestigious school. The campus grounds were huge, bigger than Yang could currently imagine, and every bit of décor and architecture inspired success, hope, and grandeur. It wasn’t a particularly _colorful_ place, but it was definitely inviting and just felt...awesome to be in. _Beacon Academy_! They were going to become huntresses, travel the world, and protect humanity!

  
“You know me, Rube-Rube,” Yang added with a smirk. “I just looked for the section specifically related to weapons.”

  
“Do you think I could get away with carrying Crescent Rose?” Silver eyes darted back towards where the duo had come from, mischief and worry creasing Ruby’s eyebrows. 

  
“Uh, no. C’mon, fearsome leader. Bring us to our dorm without getting lost. _I dare you_.”

  
Ruby huffed and whipped out her scroll. “That’s right, I _am_ fearsome. And I won’t get us lost.” Her gaze zeroed in on her scroll’s screen, and her determined march slowed little by little as she attempted to read the map of Beacon’s campus. She creased her eyebrows even more in concentration. Never mind that _fearsome_ was the last word that came to mind with that adorable look on her face.

  
Yang slowed as well, amusement flickering in her expression. She said nothing, though, letting Ruby try and figure it out. Part of her did want to help, did want to make Ruby’s life easier, but ever since they had found out that the scythe-wielding prodigy would be jumped ahead two years and join Yang in her first year at one of the huntsmen academies, the older sibling had – despite the challenge – committed to mothering Ruby less. She’d still be there for her, of course, but if Yang spent all her time shielding Ruby, then it wouldn’t be beneficial for either of them – especially knowing Ruby was going to be their team’s leader now. 

  
It did pain Yang a little. Ruby was only fifteen. She was still so young – maybe even too young for this. But she was an extremely talented fighter and had a natural genius for understanding the mechanics of weapons. She hadn’t been moved ahead two years for nothing, and Yang supposed there was obviously a reason for Ruby having been chosen as a leader, too. Still, was Ruby emotionally ready for that kind of responsibility and work? 

  
This was what made Yang afraid for her sister. At this point, though, the only thing she could do was support Ruby as much as possible and start letting her figure these basic things out on her own. It wasn’t like Yang could just send Ruby home, tell her to go back and finish school at Signal...

  
“Okay, I think I found where we have to go,” Ruby announced after a moment, her expression lighting up as she put her scroll into one of her pockets. 

  
Yang smiled, maybe a touch proudly, and motioned forward. “Then lead the way.”

  
“Follow me!”

* * *

When Yang and Ruby entered their dorm room, a few things were immediately apparent. The first thing was that both of their teammates had already arrived. There were several large, white suitcases near one of the four beds, and right across from the entrance on the opposing wall was a fairly large window that was currently open and allowing the cool early-autumn breeze to drift in. 

  
The atmosphere seemed quite a bit more glacial than it had to be, though. Weiss had already begun unpacking, doing so kind of briskly, and Blake was standing by the window, disassembling her pistol, barely glancing at the sisters when they entered. Both had their backs turned to each other, not saying a word.

  
“Hello, new teammates!” Ruby exclaimed with pep, apparently oblivious to the tension that reigned. She started walking in, a grin on her face. “And hello, Weiss, my partner!”

  
Weiss froze in her movements, and her icy blue gaze locked on Ruby. Her expression contorted into a scowl. “ _You_. I don’t know what it is you did to get the professors to dote all over you,” she began snidely, “but _I_ should have been the leader of this team. I _trained_ for this.”

  
Ruby recoiled, blinking a few times in a mix of shock and confusion. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even ask –”

  
“I can tolerate being your partner, but accepting you as my leader?” Weiss continued, anger making itself evident in her tone. “You’re a _child._ I didn’t come all the way from Atlas just to stand in the shadow of someone like you.”

  
Yang had attempted to ignore the argument by casually going over to the bed beside Blake’s and put her suitcase on it to claim it, but the truth was that the moment Weiss had opened her mouth and started talking to Ruby like that, the blonde’s temper had flared. And she couldn’t ignore the conversation any longer. Yang spun on her heels to face Weiss and growled, “Hey, back off! She deserves the position she got. You don’t have the right to speak to her like that.”

  
Weiss’ cold glower was set on Yang. The brawler didn’t flinch, meeting it with hot fury of her own. They defied each other, but Weiss was the one to eventually turn away with a disgusted “Ugh.” She returned to unpacking, muttering, “Both of you are going to be more trouble than you’re worth.”

  
Her words were followed with silence, and a sudden, soft _sh-click_ sounded from where Blake had started reassembling her weapon. The raven-haired girl seemed wholly uninterested in the group’s frustrated exchange. Yang didn’t know if that made her feel any better.

  
Ruby quietly trudged over to the only remaining free bed next to Weiss’ and put her suitcase on it. She started unpacking without saying another word, and Yang was so tempted to try and cheer her up (or beat up Weiss), but the blonde had her own luggage to take care of. She had to let Ruby start solving problems on her own. If Ruby hadn’t been named the leader of their team, things might have been different, but as it was…

  
Yang creased her eyebrows as she put some of her clothes away. They were a _team_ , though, right? Didn’t that entail supporting each other, especially supporting the leader?

  
As soon as that last thought crossed her mind, all of Yang’s resolve crumbled and, immediately forgetting about her own suitcase, plopped down next to Ruby's on the bed. “Hey, are you okay?”

  
Ruby attempted a small smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to think of a way to lighten the mood.”

  
It said something about how similar they were that they both had the same train of thought after that altercation. Yang approved. She then eyed Weiss, and began to smirk as an idea played out in her mind. “We couuuuld…throw Weissicle over there out the window?”

  
“I heard that!” the heiress snapped.

  
But Ruby giggled (and tried to smother it with her hand), and Yang even saw the corner of Blake's mouth curving upwards, so the prankster considered this the beginning of success.

  
“What about bunk beds?” Ruby suddenly suggested, perking up. 

  
This finally made Blake turn and pay attention, but she looked like she had objections.

  
Weiss, being Weiss, spoke first, though. “And how do you figure we can do _that_?” she asked sarcastically. “Shall we materialize them out of thin air?”

  
Ruby glanced around the room, her silver eyes and quick mind picking out inspiration in the things she saw. “Nope! We build them! Team activity!”

  
Yang grinned. “Yeah! We’re both really good at making stuff. Let’s do it!”

  
Weiss narrowed her gaze. She visually searched around the room dubiously, as if trying to see the things Ruby had seen. That she was even entertaining the possibility was really weird. Yang had expected much more resistance. 

  
“I’m not sure this is necessary…” 

  
Yang had expected much more resistance, yes, but not from where it was coming. She let herself fall backwards on the bed and gave a now upside-down Blake a wide-eyed stare. “Blake! Of course it is!” And then, without giving the other girl time to respond, she added as she waggled her eyebrows, “So you wanna be top or bottom?” 

  
The only indication of any reaction to this was a subtle twitch in Blake’s bow…which Yang must have imagined, what with having fun seeing the ninja standing on the ceiling. The raven-haired girl just reciprocated Yang's grin with a deadpan glare. 

  
“Oh, c'mon! Pleeeaaaaase?” Yang batted her eyelashes.

  
“Pretty please?” Ruby added, pouting.

  
And, finally, Blake heaved a great sigh and massaged her forehead in disbelief. “Alright, fine.”

  
Yang immediately jumped up and punched the air. “Yes!”

  
Ruby turned to Weiss next, all the hope in the world sparkling in her eyes. Yang knew that look. It was impossible to say no to. 

  
But Weiss observed this, unimpressed, nevertheless deciding, “I suppose…it would be nice.”

  
“Yay!” Ruby and Yang high-fived. With everyone in agreement for once, the young leader then declared, “Okay, huddle up! Here’s what we’re gonna do…”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked! I might come back to this at some point, but for now this is all there is. ^-^


End file.
